6 Spots in UjiYou Can't Miss
Almost everything good in Uji is within a kilometre on foot — from the World Heritage Phoenix Hall to the historic matcha street and Japan's oldest Shinto shrine. We've picked out what each spot is best known for and how much time to allow.
🪙 UNESCO World Heritage1
This is the iconic image of Uji — a red wooden Phoenix Hall built in 1053 AD, standing in the middle of a pond that mirrors it with perfect symmetry, so beautiful it's printed on the ¥10 coin (and the phoenix on its roof appears on the ¥10,000 note). Inside is a gilded Amida Buddha, and the Hosho-kan museum holds the original golden phoenixes.
Kyoto Attractions →A short street running from the station to the temple, lined with old tea shops — some have been open for hundreds of years. Uji has grown tea since the 12th century, to the point that "Uji matcha" became the industry benchmark. Try the intensely bitter matcha soft-serve, warabi-mochi, or green-tea soba. Many shops have cafés where you can watch tea being whisked the traditional way.
Japanese Tea Ceremony Guide →Cross the river to the north bank and you'll find a small shrine with a big story — tree-ring dating confirms the main hall was built around 1060 AD, making it the oldest original Shinto shrine building in Japan. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, originally built as the guardian shrine for Byōdō-in. The atmosphere is quiet and peaceful, with far fewer people than the temple side.
Kyoto Attractions →The Uji Bridge is one of the oldest bridges in Japan (said to have first been built around 646 AD) and even appears in scenes of the Tale of Genji. Standing in the middle of it, looking out over the clear, fast-flowing Uji River and the midstream island of Tonoshima, is the best easy stroll in town. In summer there are cormorant-fishing boats (ukai) in the evening.
Kyoto Day Trips →The "Tale of Genji" (Genji Monogatari) is what some call the world's first novel, written by Murasaki Shikibu around 1,000 years ago — and its final ten chapters (the Uji Jujo) are set in Uji. This is the only museum in the world dedicated to the work, using models, recreated scenes, and video to make the story easy to follow even if you've never read it.
Kyoto Attractions →A hillside temple known as "the Flower Temple" (Hana no Tera) because something is in bloom there almost year-round. The highlight is the hydrangea garden of ~20,000 plants in 50 varieties, peaking in mid-June, followed by potted lotus in July–August, azaleas in early May, and red maples in late November. It's a little way out from the main temple cluster, but well worth it in flower season.
Kyoto Day Trips →